Pathfinder Battles Preview: Big Bads (Vol. 1)

Friday, April 27, 2012

I'm pleased to report that all but one of the miniatures in the Rise of the Runelords set have been approved (we're still tinkering with a final paint scheme on that last one to get it right), and we stand on the precipice of an important deadline. WizKids is about to order all of the paint for this set, so that the production run can begin in earnest. That means Rise of the Runelords miniatures will soon be spooling their way down the factory line, which means the set's August release is now visible on the horizon.

Last week, we posted images of the set's packaging to paizo.com, and it took an astute reader all of 11 minutes to realize that the packaging constituted a stealth preview of a previously unseen miniature, and revealed one of the big secrets of the Rise of the Runelords set.

As many of you know, we had to remove three Huge miniatures from the original set mix in order to keep production costs under control. Since I'd revealed the set included a Huge White Dragon in the very first raft of spoilers I leaked about the set here in this blog, and since we'd already revealed three Huge miniatures (the Treachery Demon, Lamia Harridan, and Storm Giant), many folks reasonably concluded that the fourth unrevealed Huge must be the aforementioned White Dragon.

Alas, as the packaging preview revealed, the Huge White Dragon will NOT be in the Rise of the Runelords set after all, as it was one of the three Huge miniatures we had to cut for cost reasons. The decision had nothing to do with the quality of the sculpt (which is EXCELLENT), but more to do with its versatility outside the Rise of the Runelords set. For we have every intention of releasing the White Dragon in an upcoming release, possibly sooner rather than later.

But some minis in this set are designed specifically for use with the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path to the degree that moving them to another set simply isn't an option. The actual fourth Huge figure in the set is one such miniature. I give you, the Karzoug Statue:

Here we have the treacherous Karzoug, Runelord of Greed, the biggest of the big bads of the Rise of the Runelords campaign, come to life as a giant animated statue. When I say “giant,” I'm not kidding. The Karzoug Statue is the tallest and largest of the four Huge miniatures in the set, cutting an imposing figure appropriate for its role in one of the key climactic encounters of the entire Adventure Path. He's so big we actually had to change the Huge Booster packaging after we'd finished it just so he could actually fit in the box.

WizKids's sculptors and painters have done a fantastic job with this miniature, making it look like it is actually made of stone, with little cracks and weathering that add realism to this imposing figure. It looks a bit simple in the tiny photograph, but the detail on this giant miniature is amazing. Karzoug Statues generally come one per Huge case, making it a rare figure.

Next up we have Lamatar Bayden, a one-time commander of [SPOILER!] who saw better days as a hopeless romantic. Now, his command is lost, his romance is shattered, and he's trapped in the form of a hideous ice wight. Accordingly, WizKids sculpted this miniature in clear plastic. Lamatar's sharp icicle fingers and crown are completely clear, granting the rare miniature a (wait for it) chilling effect.

Lastly today we have one of the coolest miniatures in the set, The Mithral Mage! This remnant from the ancient empire of the Runelords has shiny mithral skin, which makes killing him a real pain late in the Rise of the Runelords campaign. The detailed paint steps on The Mithral Mage's costume really steal the show, here, and his dynamic pose perfectly suits his arrogant and imposing personality. He's a rare miniature, and one of the major villains of the last third of the campaign.

Looking over this blog, I'm reminded what a deadly and awesome campaign the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path really is. I'm thrilled to get a chance to create a set of miniatures specifically to support the campaign, and I'm pleased that the 65-figure size of the set allows us the chance to include a few cool campaign-specific miniatures like the ones previewed in this blog.

Next week I think I'll jump back to monsters, and show off a few minis no one has even guessed are in the set, yet!

Im sure some will argue that all 3 of these miniatures are very spacific to Rise of the Runelords so are not very useful in a game outside of the adventure path.

To them I say TOO BAD FOR YOU! :)
I love the unique minis that are tailor-made for adventures. I always hated when running moduals that the minor monsters had minis made for them but the big bad bosses needed proxies.

I love all 3. Now Im off to look at the packaging since I didnt notice the giant statue was on the box.

Oh and Erik...You said in the last preview that the next one was going to be disgusting and monsterous. These guys arent exactly disgusting. Did you have a change of plans over the course of the week? :)

I can make all three of these things work for just about any kind of big bad. :) Huge, honking stone golem? Check. Cold, icy mage-y looking guy? Yep. Silver skinned mage with a cloak of dramatic flaring? Of course!

Make sure next week's disgusting is tempered with awesome and never before seen, OK?

I noticed the box design within minutes of when Vic posted it. I'm bummed about the removal of the Huge White Dragon, but my guess is that by the time we see it in a miniature set following RotRL, many (if not most) groups will not have yet reached it as an actual encounter during play of the AP, so it should hopefully be a case of no harm, no foul.

I would like to point out that as a result of these "delays" in getting new minis out in the marketplace, I am in the midst of having to resort to extraordinry means of obtaining new plastic. I'm rebasing 700 Dreamblade minis (that I got in the shrink, for free no less) and nearly 1,400 Mage Knight minis to pass the time.

Oh, if you are still taking advice on "what minis to feature" in subsequent sets? Honestly? COMMONERS. Two per set of 60. Common figures with a common frequency. A Farmer (with pitchfork) and a farmer's wife (with an apron). A boy and a girl. A male miner (with pick) and a matronly baker (with a rolling pin). Angry Villager with pitchfork; Angry villager with torch. A barkeep and a barmaid. You get the idea. A tinker and a carpenter, etc.

Common villagers that are immediately useful and which, some years hence -- when all combined together in a group of 50 or so -- will provide most GMs with a large numbers of common everyday folk to fill a town or urban scene with common everyday people. Not a one of em wearing armor and, at best, improvised weapons only. Whether that is as part of a riot, part of the crowd in a bar or the villagers that need rescuing in From Shore to Sea or a host of other modules or PFS scenarios - there is a sore and pressing needs for such minis.

I love Karzoug's statue! The figure looks just like the artwork, and the details on the gemstones and face are nice! The other two are well done as well. (And again Lamatar's sculpt looks almost exactly like his artwork).
I wish Dragon and Dungeon had done this with Age of Worms and Savage Tide: Producing minis that represent characters from the path.
Great preview, my excitement for this set is re-kindled.

You indicate that the Karzoug statue looks “simple”, but I can see the detail in it. If you say it is ‘more’ detailed in person, really looking forward to it!

Steel_Wind wrote:

Oh, if you are still taking advice on "what minis to feature" in subsequent sets? Honestly? COMMONERS. Two per set of 60. Common figures with a common frequency. A Farmer (with pitchfork) and a farmer's wife (with an apron). A boy and a girl. A male miner (with pick) and a matronly baker (with a rolling pin). Angry Villager with pitchfork; Angry villager with torch. A barkeep and a barmaid. You get the idea. A tinker and a carpenter, etc.

Common villagers that are immediately useful and which, some years hence -- when all combined together in a group of 50 or so -- will provide most GMs with a large numbers of common everyday folk to fill a town or urban scene with common everyday people. Not a one of em wearing armor and, at best, improvised weapons only. Whether that is as part of a riot, part of the crowd in a bar or the villagers that need rescuing in From Shore to Sea or a host of other modules or PFS scenarios - there is a sore and pressing needs for such minis.

This x1000. We do a lot of roleplaying in our campaign, and interact with commoners a lot. I would love to see the full assortment of commoner minis as well. We make do, but it would be great if we could put an ‘actual’ farmer down than using one of his rogue-type minis in robes.

I would like to point out that as a result of these "delays" in getting new minis out in the marketplace, I am in the midst of having to resort to extraordinry means of obtaining new plastic. I'm rebasing 700 Dreamblade minis (that I got in the shrink, for free no less) and nearly 1,400 Mage Knight minis to pass the time.

Your putting them on bases to make them like DDM or PFB minis?

Where are you getting the bases? I always wanted to get my hands on plain black bases that I can glue stuff to and make my own DDM (well.... Pathfinder minis now).

You want the 3mm thick, laser cut circular plywood bases. For mounting small figures, you get the 20 mm bases. The most common ones, medium size, you want the 25mm bases, for Large, you want 50mm in size. Huge 3" bases are also available, but considerably more expensive per base, (Happily, you won't need many huge bases for projects).

The Litko bases are the exact same size and width as a DDM/PFB base for 12 cents a piece. If you want them in plastic, those are available as well in black acrylic, but at 30 cents a piece, are a tad too expensive for converting 1,000 minis. If I was only doing 100 or so, acrylic black bases might be fine for my tastes.

A can of flat black spray primer will have the wood bases all black and ready to glue up your new min to it in a jiffy. Aleene's Tacky Glue (slower dry, better bond - Walmart carries it) or a Krazy Glue pen (faster dry, weaker bond) will be fine for your purposes, either way.

The statue looks a lot better here than from the box art. I was concerned at first. No longer. This will totally fill the PCs with terror when I get the opportunity to plop this down on the gaming table. The other two are just stunning. This set becomes more essential by the week for running the Adventure Path. Great preview Erik! Thanks.

RotR already has some great non-combatants in the set like Aldern and Lucrecia. More commoners would be nice too. I know that Dungeon Crawler will be releasing some commoners in pre-painted plastic. Of course, with commoners a lot of variety is always good.

it took an astute reader all of 11 minutes to realize that the packaging constituted a stealth preview of a previously unseen miniature, and revealed one of the big secrets of the Rise of the Runelords set.

Hey I almost got a mention on the blog.

Again.

Lol

I do love the Karzoug golem sculpt. Wish his weapon was aiming just a tad higher to showcase a head critical against a PC.

I did have a little kid in the next set, but ultimately I cut him for something a little cooler. I am keeping an eye out for the right time for non-combatants.

That's actually brilliant. Seriously, rescuing children, damsels, and other non-combatants is a huge RPG trope. It's kind of a bummer to drop a handful of soldiers or elven wizards or xorn on the battlemat and say "ok, there's the deck of this ship, see... and the captain has these prisoners tied to the mast, see..." I get the hairy-eyeball from my players and I can tell they're wondering why these kids are wearing full plate.

Oh now just stop, really, how am I possibly not going to buy this. The karzoug huge, mithril mage, etc etc. Ridiculous. How am I suppose to come up with another $519 for two sets. Stop teasing us and put them out already, I can't stand it.

Oh, if you are still taking advice on "what minis to feature" in subsequent sets? Honestly? COMMONERS. Two per set of 60. Common figures with a common frequency. A Farmer (with pitchfork) and a farmer's wife (with an apron). A boy and a girl. A male miner (with pick) and a matronly baker (with a rolling pin). Angry Villager with pitchfork; Angry villager with torch. A barkeep and a barmaid. You get the idea. A tinker and a carpenter, etc.

Common villagers that are immediately useful and which, some years hence -- when all combined together in a group of 50 or so -- will provide most GMs with a large numbers of common everyday folk to fill a town or urban scene with common everyday people. Not a one of em wearing armor and, at best, improvised weapons only. Whether that is as part of a riot, part of the crowd in a bar or the villagers that need rescuing in From Shore to Sea or a host of other modules or PFS scenarios - there is a sore and pressing needs for such minis.

Im sure some will argue that all 3 of these miniatures are very spacific to Rise of the Runelords so are not very useful in a game outside of the adventure path.

This weirds me out because if people complain about it, they should not be looking at a set entitled "Pathfinder Battles: Rise of the Runelords". I mean, it is not like it is a big secret for what these are supposed to be used.

Well, once again excellent work. I was looking forward to the disgusting preview but can happily wait a week now. Love th etitle as well - vol 1 hey. sp when do we see vol 2? Some issues, and don't get me wrong I 100% love the minis in this preview.

Kourzag Statue: Huge stone golem, about time and beautiful. I posted elesewhere I hoped with had some crazing and stone effects, and boy doe sit. no white? Bah, we have an awesome stone golem! The gems on its hand look out of place, probably an artifact of the picture though.

Lamatar: Intelligent use of clear plastic, oh man do I love that face. Shame it's rare I could collect several of these - oh, well just need ot but more minis. The right arm looks seriously out of proportion (could be the ict fingers causing this confusion), and he looks weirdly short (though not as bad as an infamous trogoldyte from a mini set we shan't mention). I think this may look different in hand though. I want several of these, so its a shame they are rare, just means I need to buy more minis.

Ordikon: I love this mini. The pose is fantastic. His face doesn't look very well detailed however, and his left hand looks very oversized.

I agree that we need more commoners, and like the idea of 2 per set, but I think they should be uncommon. Hordes of common rarity monsters is far more useful, an uncoom rarity would still give you 3-4 in a case - more than enough merchants, barkeeps etc. I think a child would be good, a shame it was cut, although a cooler mini is obviously better. Perhaps when spoilering the next set you can let us know which one replaced the child. Commoners would also make for a good encounter pack - a sinple way to incorporate the uncommon rarity in a set, and still let people collect larger numbers.

All in all this is shaping up to be 1 of the best sets of minis I have seen. Can't wait ot see the next preview - Ogrekin times 2 and a graul hound?

I agree that we need more commoners, and like the idea of 2 per set, but I think they should be uncommon. Hordes of common rarity monsters is far more useful, an uncoom rarity would still give you 3-4 in a case - more than enough merchants, barkeeps etc. I think a child would be good, a shame it was cut, although a cooler mini is obviously better. Perhaps when spoilering the next set you can let us know which one replaced the child. Commoners would also make for a good encounter pack - a sinple way to incorporate the uncommon rarity in a set, and still let people collect larger numbers.

I agree (although I'd possibly prefer rare, to be frank). Hordes of identical monsters doesnt really bug me (I guess I see it as a necessary evil), but hordes of identical villagers does, for some reason. I can't quite see the point in laying out miniatures for roleplaying encounters and encounters with too many 'innocent bystanders' are going to be a pain to run tactically. Thus, I wouldnt imagine getting much use for more than a handful at a time - and in those instances it would be important to tell them apart, in my view.

I have fairly frequently needed handfulls of "bystander" miniatures for things like tavern fights or protect the innocent scenarios. I could see putting certain "commoner" type miniatures in the common slot, but it'd have to be a pretty generic figure like a bumpkin or a merchant or something, because the more specific you get, the less you'd want of that figure.

I was planning to make the kid a rare, because who wants multiples of the same kid? I feel the same way about something like a bar wench or a tavern keeper. You don't really need lots of that type of mini.

On the other hand, I remember a DDM figure (I can't remember the name) of a bald dude with a beer in one hand and a flying fist in the other. I like having lots of that guy.

Only 95 saving days until August. Make the most of them. Skip lunch if you must.

I'm making big batches of food on the weekends -- spaghetti or chili or whatever -- and freezing portions to grab in the morning for lunch. I'm also having tea instead of coffee.

Let's say that you buy two cups of coffee every weekday for $1.50 each, because you found someplace really cheap and don't get fancy stuff. Then you're paying $15 every week, which is $750 a year, and you could've done something else with that money -- like buy minis.

Red Rose original is $0.05 per teabag, and presumably you can get hot water for free. (It also seems to be less harsh on the system.) Then if you really need caffeine, a few dark chocolate-covered coffee beans from Mountain Man distributors should do the trick.